Play Rock Band with Friends Over Verizon’s 4G Network

Verizon just wrapped up its keynote address at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, and during the show it talked all about its big new 4G LTE mobile broadband network and the kinds of things you’ll be able to do with it.

During the show, Electronic Arts Mobile VP Travis Boatman showed off video of 4G Verizon phones running Google’s Android operating system and Rock Band on the network. We didn’t get to see any devices actually in action, but what we did see was intriguing: four phones, each representing a different instrument, playing the same song. CNET had photos on their live blog, as well as lots of coverage from the whole press event.

We saw FIFA, Tetris, Need for Speed and Monopoly mentioned during the conference as being readied for 4G play. Those games exist on Android and iOS today, but the current 3G networks cellular carriers provide really aren’t fast enough for online gaming — if you want to play with others today, you need to connect your phone to a WiFi connection. Verizon says 4G will be 1o- to 20-times faster than 3G is today.

EA and Harmonix dropped a press release following the event, outlining what we can expect from the 4G version of Rock Band:

A Quick Play mode will provide casual jam sessions, and players can hit the road to rock sold-out stadiums in Tour Mode. Buddy Lists, a feature exclusive to ROCK BAND on select Verizon Wireless 4G LTE devices, will allow players to join games, locate others they have recently played with and search for friends.

EA’s putting out 20 tracks on Rock Band when it’s released, but we’re not sure when that will be or how much it’ll cost. Check out the track list below. It’s probably not a stretch to expect to be able to purchase additional songs in the future, too.

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